Town Hall Presentations
The vice president for research and the research leadership team recognize the importance of regular communication across the office. Periodic town hall discussions are one key way that valuable information is shared. This forum also helps ensure that staff have a special opportunity to raise questions or concerns.
The town halls are conducted in person but also via Zoom webinar. The webinar is recorded — with the exception of the Q&A portion of the program, which is not recorded in order to facilitate candor and open discussion.
July 16, 2024: VPR Eric J. Perreault welcomed more than 200 Office for Research staff and faculty to this summer Town Hall, whose focus included an update on several operational and organizational enhancements made in recent months as a result of an office-wide self-assessment completed in collaboration with the Provost's Office and Huron Consulting. Perreault outlined the organizational changes, which included the hiring of a chief research operations officer and additional staffing to address high-volume functional areas. He underscored the importance of staff innovation, strong collaborative teams, and providing exceptional customer service to the Northwestern research community. He also shared several recent research highlights. Guest speakers featured faculty members Andrew Papachristos and George Wells who shared insights about their efforts at, respectively, the Institute for Policy Research and Great Lakes ReNEW.
View the recording from the July 16 Town Hall.
Nov. 30, 2023: This Town Hall was VPR Eric J. Perreault's first all-hands conversation with the OR team since beginning his OR tenure on Sept. 15. He provided an overview of his early observations about the office, noting the creativity and dedication of staff. Dr. Perreault also shared updates about various office developments, including the current Huron assessment aimed at exploring potential ways that OR can continue increasing efficiencies and effectiveness to serve Northwestern's research community. Guest speakers featured Northwestern faculty members Shana Kelley and Richard Carthew who offered updates about the work underway at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago and the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology, recently launched cross-institutional initiatives. (Kelley is president of the Biohub; Carthew is director of NITMB.)
View the recording of the Nov. 30 Town Hall.
April 19, 2023: This OR Town Hall included an update from VPR Mrksich and remarks from Northwestern President Michael Schill as well as a presentation from Northwestern Professor Alvin Tillery (political science). Other speakers included Aisha Ghori Ozaki (director, Diversity Equity and Inclusion), Lisa Dhar (associate VP of Innovation and New Ventures) and Renee Gonzales (interim AVP for Sponsored Research). Topics discussed included: recent Northwestern research achievements, strategic vision for the office, campus safety, OR staffing and compensation, flexible work schedules, space renovations, CERES implementation, the new five-day proposal policy and more.
View the recording of the April 19 Town Hall
Dec. 13, 2022: This OR Town Hall featured an update from VPR Mrksich and presentations from Amy Weber (sr. director, Export Controls and International Compliance); Natalia Glubisz (sr. director, University Research Institutes and Centers); Mike Lasky (manager, Training and Development); and Aisha Ghori Ozaki (director, Diversity Equity and Inclusion).